“...Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?” – “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay
Throughout history, societies deconstruct and form new revolutions and reforms. Because of advance technology and increasing knowledge, more and more people demand more dramatic changes to perfect their societies in recent centuries. I think revolutions and reforms are not only limited to the political aspect, but also to the gender, race, technology, economical and educational aspects. As student with an Economics major, as well as a feminist, I believe Economics and individual rights, as well as politics, are the fundamental foundation for a better society. Changing only one factor of the fundamental foundation will not change our society; instead, changing one factor might conclude in a negative effect. Now, let’s decode the real meaning of revolutions and reforms.
I think the top reason why societies change is because of money. As a economics major, money explains human behavior and ideology which affect their point on other issues. To explain this a little better, let's use women for example. Women were not earn money for the family before the 20th century. Because of the raising demand of cheap goods and labor, and higher living standards, women were forced to work in factories to relieve the burden of the families. With increasing amount of women working together, thoughts and ideas were exchanged. With these new ideas, women turn these ideas into voices and demanded equal rights. Because of a simple theory of supply and demand, it has formed a foundation for revolution and reforms. As a proud supporter of women's rights, I majored in economics because I believe money is the root of revolution and reforms.
As a child, I grew up in a home where domestic violence was very visible. Both my mother and myself were the innocent victims of such unspeakable crime. My friend is experiencing domestic violence from her boyfriend and I have started thinking about the importance of feminism. Without the first feminists, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, to launch peaceful protests against men, I, along with many other women, could not be here and receive a better education to expand my mind. Thanks to feminism, I am here trying my best in school to honor the activists, who had fought hard for women ’s rights, respect those who believe in me now, and prepare for another battle for the women of the future. Today, women have a chance to change the society; all women can make a difference. Past activists set up the stage for today's women to perform our best to prove our ability, and I am willing to perform my best to help set another stage so that the future women can prove their strength.
In Keywords, deconstruction is a "strategy of complication", perhaps because deconstruction is a method of decoding issues we face, and we understand the issue at hand, we call for reforms and revolution to lead our society a better tomorrow. And since, as history has shown, reforms and revolutions are a method of solving a series of complicated issues, deconstruction is a strategy of complication.
6 comments:
I'm really happy that you decided to bring up "feminism;" I wrote a paper on the word two years ago and it's amazing how much weight it carries. You also did a nice job in relating it to "revolution and reform" by noting how it took the revolutionary actions of early feminists to deconstruct political ideals allowing for eventual voting reform.
I like how you commented on race in your post. I totally agree with you that race is an important issue having to relate to revolution and reform. I believe the ideas that the concept of race are build on, such as an "us against them" mentality, are a prime precursor to revolution and reform. People naturally like to group things together especially from a biological point of view with taxomony. Race divides and differentiates the blacks from the whites and this concept has brought about many issues and even a civil war. So, ultimately the concept of race has caused people to call for revolution and reform.
Your post moves across a lot of difficult conceptual terrain, but where is your narrative? You end your post by self-identifying as a "feminist," but without a well-developed accompanying narrative it is hard to grasp how this term has precise meaning for you. This may have been a way to focus your post. Here are a couple other things to think about: the phrase "utopian societies" does not really make sense in the context you invoke it, because a ‘utopia’ by definition is a no-place; utopias don't exist, though they may be imagined or worked *toward*. Also, the word "deconstruct" is used imprecisely in your post (as well as in Rachel's comment). Neither societies nor individuals can actively "deconstruct" revolutions and reforms; rather, you might say that reforms and revolutions *involve* or *exploit* deconstructions of previously upheld binaries. Do you see what I mean? One other suggestion: rather than putting a disclaimer at the top of your post, take that time to reread it and catch at least *some* of the mistakes. (Otherwise it puts your reader in a wary mindset from the outset, and the mistakes call out more loudly.) Next time, try to focus more narrowly on a single aspect of a keyword, or tie the keyword more tightly to your personal experiences, rather than making broad claims about entire societies and countries.
Sorry for such a late post, as my Internet Service Provider has been giving me trouble. The good news is my post is up. I hope things are going okay with you on your end.
When I think of revolution and reform, I think of somebody stepping up because they are tired of the way things are. It's as you mentioned, political movements, feminism, racial discrimination, homosexual rights all have their movement of the masses because people feel strongly about them and want change. The most vivid example of that for me is the protests/movements for racial equalities around the Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks era. Because they had a dream and a vision, and willing to take risks and endanger themselves, they have sparked reform and revolution for many. Perhaps you can mention how because things in society are unfair to some, it sparks a strong urge for reform and revolution.
Nicely revised, Carol! You've integrated narrative and links to effectively improve your post.
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